The invention relates to an analytical magazine for receiving a plurality of analytical aids and an analytical system that is arranged for interacting with an analytical magazine according to the invention. Analytical magazines and analytical systems of this kind are used in natural sciences, technology, medicine and/or medical diagnostics, for detecting one or more analytes qualitatively or quantitatively in a sample. For example, these samples can be samples of body fluid, such as urine, blood, interstitial fluid or the like. The analytes to be detected can for example be metabolites. Without limiting further possible fields of application, the invention is described hereunder with reference to the detection of blood glucose. Basically, however, other analytes can also be measured alternatively or additionally, wherein the concept of an analyte can also comprise other measurable properties of the sample, for example coagulates or the like.
Systems are known, in particular from the field of medical diagnostics, but also from other fields, by means of which analytes can be detected in samples. In medical diagnostics said detection, for example of blood glucose, as a rule comprises generating a sample of body fluid, for example blood or interstitial fluid, followed by receiving of said sample and a qualitative and/or quantitative analysis. For this purpose, as a rule one or more analytical aids are used, which for example can comprise a lancet and/or test elements, by means of which the sample can be generated and/or received and/or analyzed.
In particular, integration of various system functions has in the past led, with analytical systems of this kind, for example blood sugar measuring systems, to commercial solutions with interchangeable magazines for the analytical aids, for example magazines of test strips. Typical representatives of this product group are the systems Accu-Chek Compact® and Ascensia Breeze, which are commercially available systems. Typical accompanying magazines as a rule hold 17 or 10 test strips.
In newer systems, in many cases various system functions are integrated, for example the system function of sample generation (for example by perforation of a portion of skin) and the system function of sample reception and optionally also the system function of analysis. When designing more highly integrated systems, blood collection and a testing function for example may be combined. For this purpose, for example so-called “microsamplers” are known, which can combine the function of a lancet and the function of transport of the sample, for example to a test element. A separate pricking aid for taking blood, for example from a finger pad, an ear lobe or some other portion of skin of a test subject, therefore becomes unnecessary.
Several such microsamplers can be accommodated in a changing magazine of a great variety of designs. Basically, regardless of the type of analytical aids, there are three main types of magazines, namely circular magazines (for example in the form of drums and/or disks), linear magazines (for example in the form of stacking magazines, zigzag magazines or similar) and belt magazines, in which the analytical aids are arranged on a belt or some other form of at least partially flexible carrier. These types of magazine can basically also be used, or modified, within the scope of the invention described in the following. In the prior art, circular magazines are described for example in US 2006/0008389, US 2007/0292314, US 2006/0184064, US 2003/0212347 or US 2002/0087056. Linear magazines are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,924 or in US 2003/0191415. Belt magazines are for example disclosed in US 2002/0188224, in US 2008/0103415, in EP 1360935 A1 or in DE 19819407 A1.
A driving force for the integration of several system functions is in particular the desire for a safe and simple operation, and miniaturization of the complete system. As frequent changing of the magazine is rather inconvenient and there is the inherent risk of not having a reserve magazine to hand at the decisive moment, a magazine should hold at least 25 test elements, preferably even 50 test elements or more.
However, the systems and magazines known from the prior art pose some technical challenges. Thus, for example the demand for smallest possible system size, at the same time with the maximum possible number of analytical aids per magazine, for example test elements, represents conflicting objectives. Equipment volumes below 130 ml are especially preferred by the user. Commercially, however, up to now it has not been possible to combine this equipment size with a magazine that for example comprises 50 microsamplers.
Circular magazines, for example of the type described above, also have the disadvantage that as a rule the number of analytical aids has a direct influence on the outside diameter of these circular magazines. A high magazine capacity therefore either leads to very flat equipment (for example in the case of disk magazines) or to particularly thick equipment (for example in the case of drum magazines). However, in many cases such equipment does not correspond to the customer's ideas. With linear magazines, on the other hand, the number of available analytical aids as a rule is directly reflected in the length of the magazines. Moreover, in this design, as a rule magazine displacement is necessary after each test, so that twice the space requirement in the system must be reserved for the magazine. The desired system size is most likely to be achieved with belt magazines, as the magazine size depends nonlinearly on the magazine capacity. However, a disadvantage with such systems is in many cases the high mechanical complexity, in particular with respect to belt guidance and/or belt control.
Therefore approaches are known from the prior art, which provide magazines in the form of so-called reversing magazines. Thus, US 2006/0264996 describes a linear magazine for lancets, which is of doubled design, with two such magazines abutting each other end to end. After all the lancets of a first end section of the complete magazine produced in this way have been used up, the magazine is ejected, turned round, and the lancets in a second end section are used.
However, these reversing magazines known from the prior art have the disadvantage that they are designed exclusively for use in pricking aids. The known reversing magazines will not be suitable for an integration concept, i.e. use in systems in which several system functions are integrated. However, these integrated systems, in particular systems with so-called microsampler magazines, have a number of special requirements. Thus, as a rule the analyte must be detectable in the magazine, for example optically and/or electrochemically. Furthermore, integrated test elements, for example test chemistries, should have a guarantee with respect to their stability, so that a reliable expiry term can be stated. Furthermore, cross-contamination of the analytical aids, in particular of the microsamplers, should be prevented. To date, these requirements are on the whole not fulfilled, or only fulfilled inadequately, with known analytical systems and known analytical magazines.